


The Ways of War and Wine

by Sky99



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Alcohol, Dragon Age: Inquisition Spoilers, Drunkenness, F/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-02
Updated: 2015-06-02
Packaged: 2018-04-02 11:03:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4057591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sky99/pseuds/Sky99
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eliza Adaar returns from the battle at Adamant and starts drinking in order to drown out the effects of Hawke's death and seeks out the companionship of her lover, the ex-templar and Commander of the Inquisition, Cullen Rutherford.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Ways of War and Wine

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt for honey-rave.
> 
> Dialogue required - "Are you drunk?"  
> Cullen/inquisitor

Eliza slowly walked to Skyhold's tavern after having left her horse with Master Dennet in the stable, grimly recalling the events from the castle fortress, Adamant. A single tear slides down the serabaas' cheek as she remembers having left the Champion of Kirkwall and Varric's best friend, Hawke, in the Fade to contend with the monstrous nightmare that had threatened the escape of the Grey Warden Alistair and herself, but she quickly wipes it away as she notices Cassandra approaching her. Eliza squares her shoulders and steels her mind as to not appear in a vulnerable state before the Seeker.

"Inquisitor. Might I have a word?" Cassandra seems concerned about something, but Eliza can only think back to the encounter with the demon in the Fade. She rubs her cheek in exhaustion before she replies.

"Can it wait, Cassandra? I'm terribly exhausted from the journey back from Adamant."

"Of course, Inquisitor." With that, the Seeker turns on her heel and heads to the training dummies by the requisition building where she usually is found practicing her swordplay. The Qunari continued her trek to the Herald's Rest and followed a rather fatigued and battered group of soldiers who had just arrived in Skyhold from the battle at the Grey Warden fortress in through the doorway. She walks up to the crowded bar and grabs a mug and a bottle of Antivan wine and then heads to a more secluded corner where she quickly downs a third of the bottle's contents. She doesn't notice the lack of patrons until she hears the loud clap of thunder reverberate throughout the mountains. The empty bottle of wine sits empty in front of her and she realizes she had been nursing the last of it in her cup for the past several hours. She quickly gulps down the rest of it and sets her cup down on the table louder than she had meant to, the noise startling a few of the dozing stragglers on the other side of the tavern. She had forgotten how strong the wine she had chosen was, considering it had been quite some time she had done any serious drinking. She slowly rises from where she had sat in the secluded corner of the warm tavern for the majority of the stormy night, being careful not to knock anything over in her drunken state. To her dismay, as soon as she was standing on both feet, she wobbled a bit and knocked her cup and the wine bottle to the floor as she braced herself on the table. Her eyes darted around the room as she looked for the disapproving eyes she had expected to see, but found none. As soon as she was confident that she was stable enough to make the walk out of the tavern, she realized how far away her quarters were. Even though tallest tower of Skyhold yielded the best view of the surrounding mountains, she oftentimes resented having to trek up the many staircases that led up to her quarters. Eliza decides she would much rather pay a visit to her beloved Commander and happily resigns to the idea of seeing him, especially after what had happened at Adamant. She attempts to discreetly make her way through the courtyard and the main hall, but gives up as she heads into the hallway leading to the first floor of the rotunda, where Solas spends his days painting and researching various objects. The elven mage is nowhere to be seen, but she can hear Dorian restlessly rummaging through the bookshelves on the floor above her. The noise pauses as she silently curses when she stumbles a bit and she freezes, holding her breath as she hopes that Dorian won't call out to her. The Qunari quietly continues as soon as the shuffling resumes and makes it to the door that leads out to the battlements. She stops for a few minutes in the doorway as she regards the rain that had started as she made her way through the main hall. The serabaas' attempts to sprint to the door of the Commander's office without tripping over herself or the stairs, but trips and the wet stone doesn't hurt as much as she thought it would, but she winces as her injuries from the previous battle silently scream at her. She hauls herself through the door and collapses onto the floor in exhaustion, a puddle of water quickly forming around her drenched body. She hears Cullen scrambling out of bed above her and the quiet, yet unmistakable sound of a sword being unsheathed. Eliza sits up and leans with her back against the wall as her lover's muscular form slides down the ladder with ease, the steel of his sword glinting in the brief light produced by the lightning of the storm. He spins around and she can see his eyes squint as he tries to make out who had come into his office and Eliza feels her adoration for him swelling in her chest as she admires the way he wields his sword in the darkness.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" She giggles at his request a bit, but stops when she sees his shoulders tense up.

"Iz jus meee." She replies, her words slurring together in her drunkenness. She places her hand on the wall behind her as she tries to stand back up. Cullen's shoulders relax and he sets his sword on his desk as he makes his way over the the mage. He rushes over to catch her when she stumbles and she looks down into his eyes and giggles once more.

"Are you drunk?" He asks.

"Mayyyybeeee." She answers, trying to stifle another giggle. Cullen shakes his head and helps her to his desk where she sits down harder than she means to. 

"Are you fine to get up the ladder?" He asks, the concern evident in his voice. He wipes some of the water from her cheek lovingly and drapes his shirt over her shoulders in an attempt to soak up some of the water that now dripped onto the desk, plaguing the various papers that lay scattered. She stares at the ladder that led up to where his quarters were and she suddenly doubted the viability of her plan to avoid the countless stairs that led to her own quarters in the main Skyhold tower. He notices the worry in her face. "Maybe I should help you back to your room." Eliza concedes to his suggestion and she wraps her arm around his shoulder as he walks her carefully back out the office door, not caring for the cold rain which now fell even harder than before. They eventually make it up to her room where Cullen silently helps her out of the soaked armour and clothes, towels her off, and then helps her into a dark blue, silken nightgown. She slowly climbs into her soft bed as he undresses and joins her, his snores quickly filling the room as she falls asleep.


End file.
